Surviving Your Business Meals

By Stephanie Wheler, Something Nutrishus Counselling & Coaching
For the Saskatoon Women's Network June/July Network News

As a member of SWN you have the opportunity to attend monthly breakfasts and lunches and depending on your line of work you may be attending numerous other business meetings that have food present. A busy life often means that someone else is preparing our food. You may find yourself away from home or on the road needing to eat out or quickly grab a bite. While it might be a treat to have food provided, you also want to think about what you are putting into your body.

A busy life means that you ask your body and mind to do many things on a daily basis. Providing yourself with proper nutrition will give you the energy to keep going, accomplish the tasks at hand, and maintain your health. The key words I use as a Registered Dietitian are VARIETY, MODERATION, and BALANCE. How can you apply these to healthy choices at business meals?

- In a buffet situation – take a look at all the offerings before starting and fill half your plate with salads and vegetables.

- At a restaurant – ask for what you want such as a baked potato or salad instead of fries.

- On the go – keep healthy snacks with you (fruit, veggies, yogurt, trail mix, canned tuna, peanut butter and whole grain bread/crackers).

- For less fat and calories choose foods that have been baked, barbecued, grilled, roasted, poached, steamed, and broiled.

- Portion control – servings are often large when eating out so choose to share with a colleague, order the children’s size, or take half home with you.

- Drink smart – pop and sweetened beverages provide empty calories; opt for water, milk, 100% fruit juice, and vegetable cocktails instead.

Smart choices are often available although sometimes you have to go looking for them. If you indulge at one meal, try to make healthier options at your next meals. Work at finding a balance for your overall eating pattern – one meal won’t make or break you!

Steph Wheler

www.nutrishus.com

Thanks for a Great SK Marathon Expo!

I had a great time at the SK Marathon Expo today! I met lots of great exercise enthusiasts from all over Canada. We had many conversations about healthy eating, what to eat during your run, etc. I was beside my friends from Craven Sport Services who had some educational sessions which reinforced the relationship between activity and nutrition. It was a busy day with many people coming through TCU to pick up their race packages.

I hope you have a great run if you're participating in the 10km, half, or full marathon tomorrow! I'll be at the first water station with the Saskatoon lululemon athletic crew to cheer you on.

For those of you who entered the Something Nutrishus draw today, I have 2 winners to announce:
1st prize - a grapeseed lululemon Retro Groove Bag goes to Lisa Wilson
2nd prize - a DC Simple Great Food cookbook goes to Rachel Zanyk

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth today!

Steph Wheler
www.nutrishus.com

Carbohydrate Loading

Are you running in the SK Marathon this Sunday in Saskatoon? Whether it is your first 10km, half marathon, or full marathon - or even if you are an experienced runner - what you eat and drink will impact your run.

With only a few days before the race hopefully you have already tried eating and drinking during your training runs so you know what you can tolerate. Many people are familiar with the term carbohydrate loading, although what it actually means for the athlete has changed in recent years. Athletes used to deprive themselves of carbohydrates while training hard and then switch to high carbohydrate to store glycogen for the race. This was physically hard on athletes and didn't make for great training leading up to race day.

Today, carbohydrate loading means tapering your training the week before the race and keeping your carbohydrate intake the same as when you were training more intensely. This means that you will be taking in more carbohydrates because you won't be burning as many. This also means that you can continue to eat meals and snacks with whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and low fat dairy to get the carbohydrate you need. During this taper week and carbohydrate loading phase you may see your weight increase by 1-2 kg - this is because you store water with glycogen, so this is a good thing and will help fuel you through your upcoming race.

Take advantage of the few days you have left - don't count on one massive pasta supper the night before. You can plan to eat a normal size supper and perhaps a bedtime snack (if this is what you have practiced during training) along with breakfast (again what you have practiced) on race morning.

Steph Wheler
www.nutrishus.com